Cathy in the Wright

Down -- and Out!

It has been reported about the Governor, aka Damien, that he’s more difficult to handle than a barbed-wire suppository. This is contrary to my experience as the occasional baby-sitter.

For example, while the Chairman and Green Goddess were away Wednesday, I was in charge of the Governor and the Senator.

Piece of cake! You may take notes.

I began with a CD-ROM of Loony Tunes cartoons. Bugs, Daffy and Elmer Fudd kept the Governor occupied—we need not tell Mom for how long—but it was time enough for breakfast to wear off. Ritz crackers and a hot dog made a fine lunch for a growing boy.

An after-lunch Loony Tunes CD helped put the lad into a torpor which was part of the plan—the Governor turning himself into Mr. Slug-a-Bed. Without a whimper, he submitted to the rocking chair and crashed for nearly three hours.

With the Governor down, the Senator came upstairs after viewing Disney’s “Tarzan.” He had turned off the TV, because “Too much television will make mush out of your mind.” Ah, to lunch. Sensible foods were offered; Ritz crackers and chocolate, yogurt-covered raisins were accepted.

A highlight of the day was watching the Senator use lexical skills that portend a career at law. I told him to “get off” a precarious perch on the arm of the sofa. “But I LIKE to sit here,” he said, so I rephrased. “Do Mom and Dad LET you sit there?” “No,” he admitted. Good day with only one failure. The Governor asked me “What does exception mean?” when he heard the word on TV. I couldn’t tell him—at a loss to put the word into context for a 2-year-old.

Posted by Professor at November 24, 2004 11:30 PM